DebiLynn Fendley Studios

Artist Statement

My work comes from the premise that I can — and do — use my art as a means of social and spiritual exploration. I work with cultural subgroups, and the process of forming bonds with them and of listening to their stories and ideas is as much a part of my art as the end product. I work predominately with male models, exploring the objectification of the male nude and the discrepancies in modern culture between the acceptance of the female nude as opposed to the often shunned male nude. In addition, I also espouse the validity of Southern art and culture and its presence as a viable force in American art.

The work I produce — prints, paintings, drawings, and photographs — is a direct result of the way the interaction with my models change me as a person, either strengthening my ideas or altering them altogether.

I approach a blank page sometimes as a conceptual realist, sometimes as a pseudo-documentarian, but always in terms of a storyteller, for I am a writer and manipulator of words as well as a visual artist. Being a printmaker, I am fascinated with process and the physicality of art production…and that fascination with physicality lends itself well to my work in the field as a photographer, where I work long hours in dimly lit areas under circumstances where few other photographers, especially women, will dare go, working with male models whom others consider too dangerous to approach. Candid photographs and drawings of these populations are my specialty, capturing images of people and events that are inaccessible to the general population.

I want not only to make art easily accessible to various subgroups but also to create art in collaboration with the members of these subgroups. I strive to make art that fosters cultural understanding with groups who are visually underrepresented. I hope the knowledge I gain through this work will extend itself to the exploration of other cultural groups in the future.